Agricultural harvesting machines, such as combines, are generally designed to handle a large variety of crops. For example, a combine may be used to harvest small grain crops (e.g., wheat or rye), grass seed, or large grain crops, (e.g., peas or corn). Conventionally, a combine is equipped with a detachable crop collecting attachment, such as a grain or corn header, which cuts the stems of the crop standing in the field and conveys the same to the inlet of a material moving system. Alternatively, crop which has been cut previously can be lifted up from the field by a pick-up attachment and conveyed to the material moving system. The material moving system, in turn, typically includes a chain elevator with transverse slats that pick up the collected crop deposited in front of the inlet and convey it rearwardly and upwardly towards the crop processing mechanism of the combine (e.g., a threshing and separating assembly).
In general, the transverse slats of the material moving system must be designed to be structurally robust. For instance, foreign objects, such as rocks, pieces of timber, or other objects conveyed to the inlet of the material moving system along with crop material, can cause an abrupt seizure of the material movement system. Such seizures subject the slats to significant loads which may result in a permanent deformation of the slats. Moreover, due to the increasing capacity of modern combines, the structural integrity of the transverse slats, in general, is becoming more of an important design consideration.
Additionally, as material throughput for modern combines is increased, an additional emphasis must be placed on the material moving efficiency of the slats. For example, with increased throughput, material may often bottleneck at the transition between the header and the material moving system due to the slats failing to properly grab and convey the material into the moving system in an efficient and effective manner. This can lead to crop “boiling” or churning at the inlet of the material moving system.
Accordingly, an improved slat configuration for transverse slats of a material moving system of an agricultural combine that addresses one or more of the issues identified above would be welcomed in the technology.